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Not all politics local in Louisiana

In an election where the lead candidates have occasionally come off as puppets with strings stretching some 1,200 miles away to Washington, D.C., it was a nice change of pace having the Senate race grounded in Louisiana recently.

Not all politics local in Louisiana

In an election where the lead candidates have occasionally come off as puppets with strings stretching some 1,200 miles away to Washington, D.C., it was a nice change of pace having the Senate race grounded in Louisiana recently.

And by grounded, I mean both U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy were not only on our TV screens during the last leg of the primary, but also at our tailgates and community meetings.

Now that we’re in the runoff, things feel disconnected again. Voters in every state of the nation had the pleasure, or displeasure, of having their federal lawmakers back at home through the Nov. 4 elections. But everyone else was able to ship their politicians back to the Beltway right after and be done with them, for now, electorally speaking.

In Louisiana, however, our runoff is still active and we’re being forced to watch the sequel to our primary play out via Washington. The congressional recess (the second-earliest one called before a midterm in 54 years) is over. And Louisiana’s last-in-the-nation runoff doesn’t mean enough to halt business, or what passes for it, in D.C.

That we’re watching our runoff candidates debate each other on the floors of the upper and lower chambers only underscores a disconcerting trend in Louisiana. Our elections and politics, everything from narratives to money, are becoming nationalized.

It’s resulting in phantom planks — issues that are important to candidates and parties but mean very little to rank-and-file voters. Big splashy TV messages and earned national media are replacing worn-out shoe leather at fairs and festivals. Yet this is about much more than the loss of Louisiana’s storied retail politics; it speaks more to the loss of a human touch and a decline in local institutional knowledge.

The first big policy hit on the Hill last week, after the primary recess ended, involved the Keystone XL pipeline and Landrieu’s and Cassidy’s bills to get it moving. Although it was a big deal in the echo chamber of Washington, it does little to move the election conversation along in Louisiana.

Pay no mind to the fact that the pipeline originates in Canada and ends in Nebraska, with extensions that reach Texas and not Louisiana. Pay no mind to the fact that President Barack Obama won’t put pen to paper on either bill.

Sure, it helps Landrieu show she can deliver on energy issues, even as she is losing her energy gavel with the GOP takeover. Sure, it shows Cassidy has sway as well with his own proposal. But to what end? It’s clear to anyone paying close attention that their parties (Democrats still control the Senate for now, and Republicans are the majority in the House) are propping them up in a last ditch effort to assist both before the Dec. 6 runoff.

In other maneuvers last week, Senate Republicans promised Cassidy a seat on the energy committee should he be elected, filling a slot Landrieu would leave vacant should she lose. When Senate Democrats voted on their next party leader, Landrieu voted against Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada after years of supporting him and just as many years of criticism in Louisiana for doing just that.

These were your big headlines in the Louisiana Senate race last week: Keystone, Harry Reid and committee assignments. And so what? Quite frankly it’s all background noise to what this election is really about. It’s a referendum on the president and Landrieu’s ties to him. Which, again, has very little to do with what Landrieu has done for Louisiana over the past 18 years or what Cassidy has done during the previous six.

Retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness came in third place following the primary vote, with 14 percent. It was enough to force Landrieu and Cassidy into a runoff, which Maness accomplished by running as an outsider who was critical of D.C. politics and the nationalization of Louisiana’s elections. In the rush to decide a winner, the Maness factor has been largely ignored. It was a message. Maybe the beginning of one.

Is there a solution? Well, it’s quite possible many folks see nothing wrong with our federal elections being nationalized. After all, those elected have to deal with national issues and federal politics. While that’s true, those who are elected also have to deal with us in Louisiana. And right now the Bayou State, its people and issues seem like a collective afterthought more than anything else.

— Jeremy Alford is the publisher-editor of LaPolitics.com/LaPolitics Weekly/ - Email him at JJA@LaPolitics.com.